Thomas Nathaniel

“Understanding, in fact, is my job, that's what writers are for--to try to understand everyone and everything and put this understanding into words, finished to the gossamer fineness of a rose petal, words made supple and obedient, words cut to hold the reader's mind like a well-made glove that fits like second skin.”
― Oksana Zabuzhko, Your Ad Could Go Here: Stories

“few things are a more satisfying substitute for the presence of other people than writing, which at the same time provides an excuse for one's antisocial behaviour, for everyone knows that someone who writes has a great need for solitude.”
― Karl Ove Knausgaard, Summer

“She asked me "what is it about
these people -

the silent ones,
the thinking ones,
and the brooding ones


why do I get drawn
to them

without knowing them?

what is it about them?

is there a magnetic
force about them?

or do they cast a spell
on me?

what is it
about these people!

the misfits
the poets,
the writers,

the painters,
the singers,

the dancers,
the musicians,

and all the ones
who create art?

what is it
that pulls me
to them?

is it
their craft
their passion

their words
their thoughts

their loneliness.
their life?

what is it about
these people?"

And I smiled
and said "I will
search the answers
to your questions
in my loneliness.”
― Avijeet Das

“[Writers] are feared by every tyrant--who shows his fear by burning the books and destroying the individuals.”
― E.B. White, On Democracy